*For background on the Mayan Fifth World and the Fifth Element, please see: The Maya World Tree ** Introduction The Fifth Element Five years have passed since December 2012; we are five years into the Mayan Fifth World and the Fifth Element has entered the scene. We are in a new age of transparency and below-the-surface shadows are bound to be illuminated while submerged debris is likely to float to the top. Whatever is hidden may be exposed and the […]

When faced with difficult choices, especially amongst bad options, conscience can always show the way. Needless to say, what the planet needs right now, more than ever, is a return to conscience. Conscience lends itself to a variety of peaceful solutions. Moral relativity does not fit well into the realm of a well developed and active conscience. Conscience intuitively knows the difference between right and wrong. What is appropriate or correct within a given context or what is not. What […]

The Yin and Yang of Spirituality Carl Jung is famous for having brought the concept of working on shadow elements within the psyche into Western psychotherapy, although the process of self-therapy, self-transformation and psychic self-evaluation with subsequent spiritual elevation is indeed a very ancient practice. Advanced practice was perhaps considered to be found mainly in the realm of shamanism, priesthood and other high level spiritual roles. However, ancient civilizations and cultures integrated the identifying and processing of shadow characteristics also […]

All the world’s a stage – Shakespeare. We are all actors in the theatre of life and we play our parts, consciously or unconsciously. At this time, in space and time, we happen to find ourselves in a shifting paradigm. At the end of the day, each scriptwriter will have some say, about the final stage of his or her own personal play. In the old (still present) age it has felt like the stage had been set. Most of […]

In Mesoamerican theology the sacred World Tree stands in the centre of the world, crossing and connecting three horizontal levels, the heavens, the earth and the underworld. It has its roots embedded deep in the underworld, with its trunk straight and sturdy in the earthly realm and its branches high up in the heavens, diverging into the four cardinal directions. Each direction has a colour. East is Red, North is White, West is black and South is yellow. The World […]

In this second half of the analysis of the film Groundhog Day [1], we will look closely at Phil’s transition and personal transformation. The first half can be read here: Part 6. Shortly before Phil decides to “check-out of life” multiple times over, we see him once again about to report on the Groundhog festival, with his comments to Larry and Rita being: “This is pitiful, a thousand people, freezing their butts off, waiting to worship a rat. What hype!” […]

In the context of Groundhog Day, after having reviewed the first part of the film, it is worth contemplating at this point where we are right now, as a society. Or rather, who we are right now. And it’s not too difficult to come to the conclusion that in most of the modern world today we very much resemble Phil Connors in the restaurant, stuffing our faces with cake – and enjoying it! Not only is this approach promoted in […]

This brings us back to the story of Chicken Little and the metaphors within. Chicken Little is merrily strolling in the forest when something (an acorn) falls on her head. She doesn’t look up. She doesn’t investigate to see what it is. She gets frightened instead of directing her attention to where the hint came from. She panics and decides to warn everyone she comes across that “the sky is falling!” Her hysteria is transferred to the others and they […]

What is individuation? In a nutshell, it is purposeful personal growth. According to Jung, individuation is a lifetime’s work while being at the same time a natural process of maturing. The idea is for an individual to enhance and deepen this process by consciously working on the unconscious, the unexplored parts of our personality and character. This would lead us to our authentic selves by discovering, or rather uncovering, the real self as opposed to the ego-self, which we usually […]

When we explore folklore and mythology we realize that history is replete with symbols and images of cataclysm, disaster, wholesale destruction and apocalypse. Let’s consider the ancient and well known tale of Henny Penny also known as Chicken Little, found in many countries around the world. The phrase “The sky is falling!” originates from this fable. This idiom points to the mistaken belief that disaster is imminent. In Ireland the fable is aptly titled: The end of the world. The […]

People are like trees. Depending on the forest, they are all similar, yet different. In very many forests the trees are so similar that the odd trees really stand out. These are the trees we are drawn to, to find shade under, or talk to, or confide in, or share our dreams and thoughts with. Often it’s just good to know that there are trees which can be trusted to be different. In most forests authentic growth is not permitted. […]

Introduction “World without end”. We find this phrase in various religious scriptures and prayers, including Catholicism and Rastafarianism. It is a Doxology and it means forever. “Forever” is not dependent on the planet or the solar system or the galaxy. Neither does it depend on whether there is a concept of time or space. Nor on humans, or humanity and no species is guaranteed to be around forever. The end of the world theme has been a human pre-occupation for […]

The pathfinder is standing in front of the open gates to the city. The walls are thick and high and cannot be scaled. It makes him wonder why there are no guards. Such defences, yet the doors are wide open. A signpost just inside of the entrance reads: “Please Disarm”. Well, I hardly have any armour left anyway”, he thinks to himself and passes through the long gateway. Once through, he finds himself in a circular lane, bending slightly inwards, […]

[Extract] The well travelled traveller has made a decision to explore more. To explore experience down the road never travelled before. Going down a new road is what he’s going to do and unexplored territory is what he’s going to go through. He has a feeling that this road could be dark, but he understands that all roads have dark and light. He knows how dark can sometimes be experienced as light and light as dark, depending on how many […]